By Rick Banas of assisted living and senior living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
The nine teams of residents from affordable assisted living communities in northern Illinois were gathered together at the Manteno Golf Club in Manteno, Illinois.
They were joined by Arlene Allen and Ann Atkinson. Arlene grew up in Jo Davies County, Illinois, where she attended school in a one-room schoolhouse for seven years. She taught school in the Kankakee area for 38 years. Ann taught kindergarten in Quincy, Massachusetts and Bourbonnais, Illinois, and worked for 22 years in the Graduate School at Olivet Nazarene University.
Anne and Arlene were there to serve as judges for the Illinois Supportive Living Spelling Bee Regional Finals for the North Region. The competition is being sponsored by the Affordable Assisted Living Coalition (AALC), an organization that represents affordable assisted living communities that operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program.
The program enables older adults and adults with physical disabilities of all incomes, including those on Medicaid, to live in a residential-apartment home environment and receive personal assistance, help with medications, and services such as meals, housekeeping and laundry.
Also there to help as assistant judges were six students from Manteno Middle School. Nora Crockett, Taylor Gilliam, Caitlin Godsey, Colin Smith, Olzea Smolinski and Cassidy St. Peter are all members of the school’s Spelling Bee team. They were joined by the school’s Spelling Bee team’s sponsor Erica Lehrus.
More than 100 teams of residents from communities located throughout Illinois had entered the Spelling Bee, with nine teams qualifying for the regional finals in the North Region.
Standard spelling bee rules were followed, with judges giving the team a word to spell. The team had two minutes to work together to agree on a spelling. They could ask the judge to repeat the word, for the definition and for the word to be used in a sentence. One member of the team needed to correctly spell the word for the judges. One wrong letter and the team was out.
The Gold Medal winners was the team from Heritage Woods of Rockford, with Heritage Woods of Manteno coming in second, and Victory Center of Joliet finishing in third.
All three teams qualified for the Spelling Bee Finals, which will be held on May 14 and 15 at the Decatur Hotel and Conference Center in Decatur, Illinois. The most frequently used words in the Scripps national Spelling Bee will be used.
They will be competing against the teams that qualified in the Cook County, Central and Southern Divisions.
Cook County
Eden Supportive Living of Chicago
Victory Centre of Bartlett
Victory Centre of River Woods
Central Division
Springfield Supportive Living
Mary Bryant Home in Springfield
Heritage Woods of Charleston
South Division
Prairie Living at Chautauqua
Cambridge House of Maryville
Cambridge House of Swansea
Dorie Johnson, one of the members of the winning team from Heritage Woods of Rockford, mentioned that winning the regional title and qualifying for the state finals was an early birthday present. She is celebrating her 90th Birthday today. Like judge Arlene Allen, she grew up in Jo Davies County.
Dorie’s teammate, Nita Mahan, will be 85 on June 26. She started her teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse and then taught second and third grades.
When Dorie and Nita returned home to Heritage Woods of Rockford from the competition in Manteno last Thursday, they were honored by residents and staff with a victory celebration and a banner congratulated them on victory.
Spectators are welcome to attend the Spelling Bee Finals next month in Decatur. We hope to see you there.
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“BMA Management is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
By Rick Banas of senior living and assisted living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
If you think assisted living residents do nothing but sit around and play BINGO, you should have been at the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that we manage in Manteno, Illinois, this past Friday afternoon.
For the second year in a row, residents on the community’s Wii bowling team smoked firefighters and paramedics with the Manteno Fire Protection District during an annual Wii Bowling Challenge.
In fact, the members of the Acorns did themselves one better in this year’s competition. Last year, they beat the firefighters by a combined total of 225 pins, or an average of 37.5 pins per bowler per game. This year, they won by a combined total of 226 pins.
Resident Helen Wotring, who is 86 years young, had the high game, tossing a 236. Her game included a turkey and a four bagger.
“I like to show off,” Helen told those who were gathered in the dining room at Heritage Woods to cheer on the bowlers. It only took a couple of thousand games to be able to do this, she said.
“You have every right to be bragging,” Mary Robbins of the Fire Protection told Helen.
Scott Spanos rolled the high game for the Fire Protection District, tossing a 167.
Wii Bowling is an activity that has become very popular at the assisted living communities that BMA manages.
AALC represents affordble assisted living communities located throughout Illinois that operate through the state’s Supportive Living program. The program enables the communities to serve older adults and adults with physical disabilities of all incomes, including those on Medicaid.
Last year, three of teams competing in the Final Four were from BMA communities.
The Oy Vey! team of residents from Heritage Woods of Bolingbrook brought home the Second Place trophy. Team member Michael Malina had the high game in the Final Four competition. He rolled a 279 in the semi-finals. In addition, team member Manny Shellist was recognized for being the oldest bowler ever to compete in an AALC Wii bowling Final Four. Manny, who turned 101 not long after the Final Four, averaged 176.
For the Silver Sliders from Cambridge House of Maryville, qualifying for the Final Four was old hat. It was the third year in a row that the team from the community in the St. Louis Metro East area were among the four best teams in the state. In 2010, the Silver Sliders struck gold and brought home the First Place trophy.
For those of you who might be interested, we invite you to watch the 4th Annual Wii Bowling Championship Final Four live in Decatur. If you cannot make it, live streaming on the Internet will be available.
We will be sure to keep your informed.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
By Rick Banas of assisted living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
As Veterans Day 2012 nears, I am reminded of two people that I met on Veterans Day last year. Both served our country in World War II and were living at the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that BMA manages in Moline, Illinois.
Lee Trainor talked with me about where he was when he heard the news about the Bombing of Pearl Harbor and his experience in the war.
He was living in Kansas City and had gone to Hutchinson, Kansas, for a visit. Hutchinson is located on the Arkansas River, nearly 40 miles northwest of Wichita. There was a radio playing on a small table in the lobby of the hotel where he was staying. It stopped playing so he went over to see what was wrong and heard the announcement.
Two weeks later, Lee went into the service of our country at the age of 18. He was in the second wave of Marines to land on Iwo Jima in the battle with the Japanese for this strategic stronghold in 1945. He watched from within a few hundred yards as Marines raised the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi.
He spent nearly six weeks in combat on the island but said he does not remember a single thing from about the third day until the last day of combat. About 4 a.m. that morning, a live mortar landed just two feet away from where he was standing. He reasons that the mortar did not explode because the volcanic soil he was standing in was so soft.
Following his discharge from the service, Lee went to the University of Missouri in Columbia and on to enjoy a career in newspapers and advertising. While working for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, he had the opportunity to cover President Eisenhower at a ranch up in the high country.
Fred Collins was working as a machinist at the Arsenal in Rock Island when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He served as a Fighting Seabee in the South Pacific. He was part of the Battle of Okinawa, which was the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific campaign and the bloodiest battle in the Pacific War. Reportedly, more people lost their lives in the Battle of Okinawa than in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Fred talked about serving in a fox hole during the battle, with bullets flying and Kamikaze aircraft and mortar shells dropping from the sky. His buddy serving next to him in the fox hole was killed. Fred was awarded a Bronze Star for his service.
All of us at BMA Management and at the senior living, assisted living, supportive living and memory care communities that we manage salute our Veterans.
Here is a listing of some of the activities being hosted by BMA communities to honor our Veterans:
Veterans Breakfast & Flag Ceremony
8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 12
At Heritage Woods of Centralia
Centralia, Illinois
Veterans Day Celebration
With the music of Rick Pickren
3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 12
At Heritage Woods of McHenry
McHenry, Illinois
Heritage Woods of Dwight is providing the opportunity for you to honor individuals who have served our country in the military in a special way. The community is selling luminaries for its Patriotic Luminary Display at a cost of $3 each, with proceeds benefiting the effort to update and beautify the Veterans of Foreign War Memorial in Dwight. You can put the name of the person you would like to honor on the luminary. They community is selling the luminaries between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. through Friday, Nov. 9. For more information, call 815-584-9280 or visit online.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
By Rick Banas of senior living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
The members of the Heritage Woods of Manteno Mighty Acorns were all smiles last Friday afternoon as they took the local Manteno Community Fire Protection District up on a challenge.
Firefighter Adam McCurdy had challenged resident Larry Lanoue to a Wii Bowling match. The idea expanded into a Wii Bowling Tournament held at the affordable assisted living community in Manteno, Illinois. The tournament featured six residents bowling against six firefighters, with each bowler tossing one game.
The residents, who are all members of the community’s Mighty Acorns Wii Bowling team, won hands-down. They outscored the firefighters by a total of 225 pins. The average score for the residents was 37.5 pins higher than the average score for the fighters.
“This is like taking candy from a baby,” said resident Larry Lanoue, after throwing a strike with his left hand. “Right-handed, I practice a lot,” he proclaimed. “Left-handed, not as much.”
Larry tossed a 204, which was the high game for the afternoon. Resident Marie Reneau, who is 87 years of age, bowled a 187. Resident Isabelle Straley had a 183.
Resident Helen Wotring, who is 85, tossed a 170. She said she was not used to bowling in front of the crowd of residents and family members who packed the room to cheer on the Mighty Acorns along with the photographer and reporter from The Daily Journal who were there to cover the event.
Helen, who says she is “hooked” on Wii Bowling, is among those at the community who bowl every day. She has tossed two 300 games.
For the Firefighters on Friday, Mary Robbins had the high game, tossing a 187.
Firefighter McCurdy, on the other hand, was advised that he might have to walk back to the firehouse. He bowled a 72. Next time, he said, “we’re going to play Euchre.”
Members of the Mighty Acorns at Heritage Woods of Manteno are competing again this year in the annual Supportive Living Wii Bowling Tournament. The Tournament features teams of residents from Supportive Living communities located throughout Illinois bowling against each other, with Final Four competition held in Springfield, Illinois in April. In 2011, the Mighty Acorns were one of five teams from affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA to qualify for the tournament’s Elite Eight.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
Many of the Senior Living and Assisted Living communities managed by BMA Management will be honoring our Veterans with special programs on Veterans Day.
We invite Veterans of our Armed Services to join us tomorrow, November 11, 2011 for these events:
Cambridge House of Maryville Affordable Assisted Living Maryville, Illinois · cambridgehouse-maryville-slf.com
Veterans Appreciation Breakfast – 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Veterans Day Program – 2:00 p.m.
Grand Prairie of Macomb Affordable Assisted Living Macomb, Illinois · grandprairieassistedliving.com
Veterans Day Program – 10:00 a.m.
Heritage Woods of Benton Affordable Assisted Living Benton, Illinois · hw-benton-slf.com
Veterans “Biscuits & Gravy” Breakfast – 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Heritage Woods of Centralia Affordable Assisted Living, Senior Living Apartments
& Rental Homes for Older Adults Centralia, Illinois · hw-centralia-slf.com
Veterans Breakfast & Flag Folding – 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Heritage Woods of DeKalb Affordable Assisted Living DeKalb, Illinois · hw-dekalb-slf.com
Veterans Breakfast – 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Heritage Woods of Dwight Affordable Assisted Living Dwight, Illinois · hw-dwight-slf.com
Veterans Day Luminary Display – Dusk to 9:00 p.m.
Heritage Woods of Flora Affordable Assisted Living Flora, Illinois · hw-flora-slf.com
Veterans “Pancakes & Sausage” Breakfast – 7:00-8:30 a.m.
Heritage Woods of Huntley Assisted Living Huntley, Illinois · hw-huntley-alf.com
Veterans Day Program – 1:30 p.m.
Featuring long-time Huntley Resident Al Jordi,
talking about his recent Honor Flight experience
Heritage Woods of Manteno Affordable Assisted Living Manteno, Illinois · hw-manteno-slf.com
Veterans Day “Biscuits & Gravy” Breakfast – 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Patriotic Music – 2:00 p.m.
Heritage Woods of Moline Affordable Assisted Living Moline, Illinois · hw-moline-slf.com
Veterans Day Breakfast Buffet – 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Heritage Woods of Watseka Affordable Assisted Living Watseka, Illinois · hw-watseka-slf.com
Veterans “Pancakes & Sausage” Breakfast – 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Prairie Winds of Urbana Affordable Assisted Living &
Rental Homes for Older Adults Urbana, Illinois · prairiewinds-slf.com
Veterans Day Program – 10:00 a.m.
To find a community near you and to see an Illinois map with all of our communities, click here.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
If you think assisted living residents do nothing but sit around and play BINGO, you should have been at the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that we manage in 
Fred Collins was working as a machinist at the Arsenal in Rock Island when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He served as a Fighting Seabee in the South Pacific. He was part of the Battle of Okinawa, which was the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific campaign and the bloodiest battle in the Pacific War. Reportedly, more people lost their lives in the Battle of Okinawa than in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 
Cambridge House of Maryville
Grand Prairie of Macomb
Heritage Woods of Benton
Heritage Woods of Centralia
Heritage Woods of DeKalb
Heritage Woods of Dwight
Heritage Woods of Flora
Heritage Woods of Huntley
Heritage Woods of Manteno
Heritage Woods of Moline
Heritage Woods of Watseka
Prairie Winds of Urbana
